Oh, those bad boys

I haven’t gotten a lot of reading done recently but I did find time to finish a couple of new books lately. Don’t know that there’s really a bad boy theme here but I do find it interesting that in each of these three books the heroes aren’t nearly a “bad” as they want everyone to believe. And yet they are. Confusing, no? Yes? Whatever.

• Jude’s Law by Lori Foster – As a reader, I can really tell when I’m totally hooked on an author because I’ll put up with plots I’d never read by another author. Okay, maybe not ever in a million years but I’d definitely have to do some serious soul-searching before picking up a “Hollywood bad boy moves to small town” story from another author. Foster is one of the few who can dive directly into this one and make it work for me. I particularly liked that she actually gave not one but two very good reasons why he gave up on the lights of Tinsel Town. One is that he has something to fall back one but to tell you what exactly would be giving away too much. Another thing I liked about it was that this was another of her very “normal” heroines, meaning one that isn’t overweight but definitely not underweight either. The only real problem I had is that the story seemed to end rather abruptly – like the sequel had already started or something. Seriously, for a second or two, I actually thought the last chapter was one of those next book excerpts. Oh, well.
• Good Girls Do by Cathie Linz – This one was really great. Right up until about the middle and then I started skimming. I should probably point out – again – that I do that a lot and in this case the good news is that I immediately went back and read through most of it again. I think that as much as I loved the bad boy/good girl romance in this one, I was getting a little tired of all the secondary characters, as interesting as they were. I would like to point out something interesting about the ending being non-conventional for a romance but will restrain myself and spell it out in the comments to give spoiler space for those that want it. (If I forget, remind me, please.)
• Lady Anne’s Dangerous Man by Jeane Westin – Okay, this one is just different all the way around. Set in Restoration England, I think, it features an unconventional hero and heroine as well as an at least slightly unconventional plot. Not that, strictly speaking, a Robin Hood type adventure story in a romance is all that unconventional but I couldn’t help thinking all the way through it that the hero almost reminded me of Errol Flynn in real life than him on screen in any of his roles. And yet not. Definitely not conventional and yet it worked for me, possibly because the story itself was such a rollicking good adventure tale all the way through. Talk about constant red herrings, too. The author would make me think the story was going one way and then it would be off in another, completely unexpected direction.

Well, that cleans out my “first read” basket. Next up, recent book buys.